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It's sometimes said that a year's worth of astronomy gets done in the last week of the year, and that probably isn't too far off. However, my poster is already ready to go, since I'm recycling one from a previous conference. But the conference I presented it at last wasn't a pure astronomy conference, so I'm not cheating, right?

I always find the January AAS Meeting to be overwhelming in size. It's hard to take in everything. Then again, if you compare the 3000 or so who descend on the AAS Meeting to the tens of thousands who go to the AGU Meeting every year, maybe I shouldn't complain.

I'm not alone in my feelings about big meetings. Science Woman feels the same way about the AGU.

It's not the science, it's the meeting (people). As DrugMonkey says over and over again, it's all about the networking.

So this AGU, my poster was the excuse to spend the money on the plane ticket, hotel, registration and food. (San Francisco is not cheap!) And this AGU, I did listen to some really amazing scientific talks and read some excellent posters. But mostly, I wanted to talk to the movers and shakers and rising stars in my subdisciplines.

Yeah, that sounds about right. So, on Sunday I'll be off to Long Beach, pre-displayed poster on hand, off to meet and greet. You know, it's funny, we women are supposed to be such social animals, always chatting with our friends and using our great communication skills. Yet, when it comes to the networking that leads to opportunities and success, we somehow get left our of the loop. What's with that anyway?